


The Beginnings of an Alliance

by Thomas_Cao



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons - Fandom, Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-09 12:50:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7802518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thomas_Cao/pseuds/Thomas_Cao
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As four heroes work together to save their worlds, they must find out a way to work together and how to deal with each weakness and strength. On their mission, they find out the plot behind it all, and it will take all of their might and all of their allies to help fight it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beginnings of an Alliance

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be out much earlier but it got delayed. Oops.
> 
> I do not own anything from Brave, Tangled, Rise of the Guardians, or How to Train Your Dragon except for this story.

_HICCUP/MERIDA_

 

Hiccup was going for his early morning flight with Toothless. It has been years after the defeat of Drago, about a decade now, and he had finally reached the expectations of his friends and peers. Many battles had come and gone including the second defeat of Drago, but Berk survived it all and they would've survived much worse. Toothless had finally found a way to pass his duty of Alpha to another dragon, and returned to continue his less demanding life with Hiccup. Hiccup had finally gathered the nerve to ask out Astrid years ago, and now him and Astrid have been happily married for a couple of years. As he soared over the calm blue sea, illuminated by the rising morning sun, he could see Seashockers swimming under the water's surface, curious of the disruptive dragon flying above the water's surface. As they broke off from the pair, returning to deeper waters to hunt their prey, Hiccup and Toothless also lifted away from the water's surface and flew up into the crisp winter morning air. He was flying North, trying to reveal more islands and foreign lands early in the morning before the village woke up and he was demanded to fulfill demands and resolve arguments over petty situations like a morsel of food or a scrap of cloth. His journal had been patched and repaired countless times. The map inside was still the original, but it had been copied countless times, the valuable information was posted around Berk, taught to all the future dragon riders, and sold to passing ships for hoards of food or gold. Fishleg's dragon information had been added to the Book of Dragons and praised countless times for its details. But Hiccup was unsatisfied.

He had friends, followers, and a successful life as a chief. He had Toothless and Astrid. But he sought approval of his actions, he hadn't heard any arguments or encouragements in a long time, he had to make sure that people thought like he did and understood his actions and ideas. His orders were taken with no arguments, but without agreement either, people just did as they were told, not knowing why or for what. He hadn't met anyone unusual or hostile for a long time. No doubt he was happy about the lack of enemies, but he missed flying along his friends knowing they're making history or saving Berk as he flew to the defense of the whole town on dragons, pushing back attackers and dragon hunters, knowing that he was doing the right thing and everyone knew he was. He missed action to wake him from the monotone life he has. He pulled out his eyeglass as he scratched the top of Toothless's head while gazing at the horizon looking for the remains of the island, or another mainland. An hour later, just as they wanted to turn back, Toothless purred as he spotted what Hiccup had also seen. He spotted the shore of a large beach that opened up into an even larger forest just beyond it. Deciding that Astrid could cover him for today, Hiccup set down on the island and started to set up a small camp where he could return and rest after they spent the day exploring.

\---

Merida was busy doing her morning routine, riding through the forest, spending her morning just relaxing and enjoying the forest. She passed the stone monuments. She knew the old witch lived nearby, she pondered going to look for her, but remembering what happened last time, she decided against it. The kingdom had really changed since her last adventure. In the years since she proved herself, her parents had allowed her to get trained by an actual trainer and she was now a good sword fighter and survivalist along to being master of the bow. Her father was gone, but her mother was finally supporting her opinion to become a good fighter. Her brothers were also older now. They were still kids but they followed her decisions and they were already aspiring to become trained with swords and good bowmen. The kingdom had changed greatly throughout the years. For one, many people were eager to challenge the princess to sword duels and archery contests, and they all expected it when they were beaten. Merida's skill was known across many kingdoms and many lands. She was known as a great warrior and archer, many people thought she would grow up to become a soldier or a general with her superior fighting tactics and skills. She longed to fulfill their hopes to become a general and lead others to defend her kingdom, but that was a long way away. She knew that it would take a lot of training and learning before she could lead any troops or fight in any battles. But she craved purpose right now. She spent her time training and honing her unique skills, but she lacked any chances to apply them. She had definitely risen above average and above all expectations but so far she hadn't used her skills for any real purpose. She helped out her kingdoms and their neighboring kingdoms by helping with hunts or dealing with dangerous creatures but she longed for a real opportunity to see what she could do and test her limits. She wanted a chance to see how accurate she could be in battle and how she would stand under the pressure. As she stood in the clearing, gazing at the cuts and gouges on the stones, she saw another path that leads out of the forest, she knew it lead to the waterfall. She had traveled there so many times that she had carved a path out of the wilderness. So pulling Angus behind her, she walked down the grassy path, trying to get to the waterfall.

\---

Hiccup was really disappointed, upon first inspection, he thought he'd found a new island but turns out he had visited the island once before, he never explored it because of the clear lack of dragons but he assumed that since it was too late to cover up his absence, he decided to explore the forest for signs of other villages or stuff to bring back for Fishlegs to mess with. Fishlegs saw everything, if Hiccup found anything new, from a different new rock to ancient looking artifacts, everything was brought back for Fishlegs to examine. It was Fishleg's passion to pore over mounds and mounds of books, brought from various different villages as Fishlegs requested them from Hiccup, and then tell Hiccup about the artifact's or rock's history and source. Fishlegs now had his own storage building, it had been used as a storage space for half the village's winter food supply, but then Fishlegs requested to have it after a new and sturdier one was built. The village was happy to let him have it, the large and musty dark room stunk of old meat and rotten vegetables. Now it was lit by several makeshift windows made by Meatlug and the walls and the floor were covered with interesting stuff Hiccup brought back. The windows ventilated the room and made it smell of dusty books and Now, no one went in there anyways, but it was virtually FIshleg's office. Whenever anyone needed help with the mechanisms around the village and Hiccup was busy with other issues, that's where they headed for help. Even the dragons who have seen Fishlegs helping people have been known to drag Fishlegs around the village to whatever they broke that time.

Hiccup looked at Toothless, who was curiously following a crab around the beach. Berk got crabs from different villages frequently, but Toothless had barely seen one alive before. Hiccup knew that the crabs liked to live in the warmer climate of the north. The crab scurried away from Toothless, who had his paw up, ready to swat at it. Carefully, Toothless backed further away from the crab to give him more time to react. Then quickly, Toothless hit the crab and turned to run further away before turning to see the crab's reaction. Upon seeing the crab doing nothing but scurrying around in circles panicking, Toothless smiled and ran to the crab to investigate further. Hiccup watched as Toothless happily tried picking up the crab, thinking it was friendly, and quickly recoiled. Hiccup laughed as Toothless ran to him with the crab hanging from his snout by a pincer. The crab had grabbed onto one of his nostrils as Toothless eagerly sniffed at the panicked crab. Toothless's scaly skin couldn't be cut by the pincers but it was an obvious nuisance to him.

After several attempts to convince the crab to let go, Toothless decided that he had enough and proceeded to vigorously shake his head, tossing the crab around everywhere, but it stayed firmly latched onto Toothless. After Toothless was done and tired out, Hiccup decided to try and pry the crab off with his knife after calming Toothless down enough so Hiccup could get the knife between the crab's pincers. With a bit of prying and help from Toothless, Hiccup managed to loosen the crab's hold and make it let go of Toothless. It quickly regained its awareness and started scurrying away. Toothless was about to blast it with his plasma when he caught a disapproving stare from Hiccup, "Leave the poor crab alone, he was minding his own business, unlike you!" Toothless rolled his eyes and blasted the sand in front of the crab instead, thoroughly terrifying the crab and sending it frantically searching for cover. 

Toothless rolled his eyes and blasted the sand in front of the crab instead, thoroughly terrifying the crab and sending it frantically searching for cover. As the two turned their attention away from the crab, Toothless began nudging Hiccup, showing him that he was hungry.

The two hadn't eaten anything before taking off, so they spent an hour flying above the water's surface, catching and then cooking some fish to eat, Toothless preferring to eat the raw fish right away. Once they were both full and satisfied, Toothless laid down to rest and instantaneously began to purring, a habit taught by Hiccup to all the dragons to avoid them from snoring and waking up all the Vikings in the middle of the night. Hiccup left Toothless there to rest in the warm sun on the beach, feeling he deserved it after the long and early flight. Hiccup turned his attention towards the vast forest, which could be seen extending along the whole beach. He had only once seen a large and resource-rich area like this before. As Hiccup searched his map for where he had drawn this before, he could hear Toothless purring behind him and the sound of crashing water. Hiccup turned towards the ocean but found nothing. No rocks or cliffs that the water should be crashing against. The beach was mostly flat with nothing that could cause such a loud crashing. Hiccup was confused and looked around for signs of a stream or something that would move the water so fast as to cause it to crash against obstacles so loudly. But to his puzzlement, there was no streams or rivers anywhere in sight. Curious, Hiccup began to walk up and down the beach, looking for any kind of caverns or caves that could be home to an underground spring, but he didn't see anything that could be home to something so large. He wandered around the edge of the beach until he got to an intention of trees where the sound was loudest. He looked and saw that he could still see Toothless sleeping at their camp, just a short walk away. Knowing that Toothless would be there to help him if he needed help, Hiccup took out his knife and entered the forest.

Hiccup made his way through to the forest, cutting plants and branches where he needed and turning back if the route got too blocked. Hiccup trudged through the forest at an excruciatingly slow pace, his metal foot and the unusual terrain making the trip extraordinarily hard for Hiccup. Hiccup was sure he was near the source of the sound when he heard footsteps on his left and, elated at the sign of another living thing, he began feverishly working to follow the sound. He pushed and cut through the plants, trees, and bushes as fast as he could, stopping at times to listen for the sound before quickly turning to follow it again. As Hiccup neared the last location of the rustling noise, he could see a clearing up ahead of him, he stepped into the clearing where he bent down to adjust his prosthetic when he heard an arrow whiz above him, glancing the hilt of his dragon sword before flying past and embedding itself into a tree.

\---

Merida frowned, _Who is this? He can't be from any of the nearby kingdoms. I haven't seen these emblems anywhere, or these machines either._ She pondered what to do as she watched the man pull out a strange sword with a blade that was hollow. He spoke up and yelled into the clearing, "Hello, is anyone there? If you can hear me, I don't want to hurt you, I'm here to talk and explore. I do not want to hurt, steal, or take anything!"

His voice could barely be heard over the crashing waterfall, but Merida could hear him well enough. As Merida considered her options, she pulled out her sword as a reassurance for safety, which quietly scraped along the inside of her sheath. The man quickly looked in her direction. Cursing herself, she listened as the man said, "I know you're back there. Just calm down. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want you to hurt me. Just come out so we can talk."

Knowing her cover was blown, she yelled back, "What kingdom do you belong to?"

The man seemed hesitant in his answer, "Well, I'm from the village of Berk I guess."

Merida was puzzled now, _Village of Berk, that's not any nearby kingdom or place she knew of._ That doesn't even exist! "You're lying! Tell me the truth! Are you running from your crimes?" Merida asked the man, still reluctant to leave the rocks. The man laughed, "I have no crimes to hide from! If I had some, I wouldn't be talking to you!" Merida, tired of talking from behind a rock, clambered over the outcropping, landing on the ground in front of it, holding her sword up to deflect any attacks. But none came. The man was still standing at the edge of the clearing, obviously watching her but he was twirling the sword in his hand instead of attacking her in any way.

Merida asked the man, still reluctant to leave the rocks. The man laughed, "I have no crimes to hide from! If I had some, I wouldn't be talking to you!" Merida, tired of talking from behind a rock, clambered over the outcropping, landing on the ground in front of it, holding her sword up to deflect any attacks. But none came. The man was still standing at the edge of the clearing, obviously watching her but he was twirling the sword in his hand instead of attacking her in any way.

Merida, tired of talking from behind a rock, clambered over the outcropping, landing on the ground in front of it, holding her sword up to deflect any attacks. But none came. The man was still standing at the edge of the clearing, obviously watching her but he was twirling the sword in his hand instead of attacking her in any way.

Merida, tired of talking from behind a rock, clambered over the outcropping, landing on the ground in front of it, holding her sword up to deflect any attacks. But none came. The man was still standing at the edge of the clearing, obviously watching her but he was twirling the sword in his hand instead of attacking her in any way.

Confused by the man's lack of aggression, she pulled out her bow and listened for any signs of an ambush, but she couldn't hear any. The man smiled, "See don't worry. I don't want to hurt you. My name is Hiccup. Can I ask you what your name is?"

Merida didn't smile, instead, she pointed to the black and red icon on his necklace, "Is that your village's emblem?"

Hiccup looked at it, "I guess so. I just started wearing it for fun though."

Merida didn't care why he wore it, only what it was, "Give the necklace to me."

Hiccup frowned, "No, this is mine and it's important to me."

Merida frowned, "Give, me, the necklace!"

Hiccup stepped back and stopped twirling his sword, "I told you no, I need this!"

Merida laughed, "Fine, I'll just take it instead!" 

She lunged forward, using her sword to make him defend himself. Although he was surprised, he didn't turn and run, instead, she saw him messing with his hilt, and the next thing she saw was his sword blade bursting into flames. Surprised by the new turn of events, she slowed her attack but not wanting to show fear or cowardliness, she kept attacking.

Hiccup fought brilliantly, parrying all her strikes quickly while also managing to keep his necklace out of her reach. Hiccup hit her sword away with the base of his fiery blade, where the fire burned the brightest, and when she pulled her sword back she could see her blade disfigured and melted in the heat. Without a melee weapon, she quickly jumped back over the rocks she had been hiding behind and fired arrow after arrow at Hiccup. She was very careful not to shoot to kill, but the man didn't fall. She starting firing arrows at his legs, trying to make him jump back and fall, but the arrows couldn't pierce his unique armor. Having figured out his armor was impenetrable, she started aiming at his hands and the few spots he didn't have protection. Several of her arrows would've found their mark if he hadn't used a cloak to block them. From under his arms, he had stitched layers of what looked like leather, making an effective defense. She knew that he was completely defended except for one thing. Taking careful aim, she shot at his neck. Missing her first one, she quickly unloaded several arrows to keep him pinned and to stop him from moving. She fired another one. Once he stopped moving, this one hit the top of his arm and glanced the necklace's string. Repeating the process again, she took careful aim and shot at his neck. This time the arrow was uninterrupted and nicked his neck, while also cutting the necklace. Hiccup stumbled back, clearly shocked at the close shot. Merida made a move to grab the necklace on the floor, but not before he had grabbed the necklace from the floor. Merida put an arrow in her bow and pointed it at Hiccup.

The two stared at each other, Merida pointing a bow at Hiccup and Hiccup holding his flaming sword and his necklace. "Hiccup, give me the necklace."

Hiccup looked from the necklace to Merida, "Fine, here."

He held the necklace out to her, "Take it, if you would fight for it, then you should have it."

Merida edged forward trying to keep her bow pointed at Hiccup. When she got too close to keep the bow between them, she quickly shot the arrow past Hiccup's ear, hoping to make him flinch. But he didn't, he kept standing there holding the necklace out to Merida. Unarmed, she snatched the necklace and backed away, glaring at him. She looked at Hiccup to check he wasn't doing anything dangerous, but Hiccup was only extinguishing his sword and putting it back in his sheath,  "You know, I wasn't lying, I live in Berk with my friends and family. The reason you probably don't believe me is that you've never heard of it. Right?"

Merida scowled, she didn't like having someone know what she was thinking, "Fine, what if I haven't heard of it before, that just makes your story even less believable!"

\---

Hiccup studied his opponent, not knowing what to think. She didn't have the rugged nature of a regular warrior or brawler, but she was definitely skilled with her bow and sword, and judging from her clothes, Hiccup assumed that she wasn't poor and probably from a large and wealthy family. Hiccup challenged her, "Well, who are you to know everything and everyone around here?"

She laughed, "I'm Merida obviously!"

Hiccup, still completely confused, repeated his question, "Okay, so who are you exactly?"

She scoffed, "I'm Merida, from the kingdom of DunBroch?"

Hiccup shook his head, "Berk isn't nearby, it's probably a few hours from here."

Merida frowned, "That's not that far, especially by boat, that should still be near the kingdom?"

Hiccup laughed, "Well, by ship, it's really nearby but I didn't come here on a ship! I came here much quicker!"

Merida was puzzled, "Did you come from the mainland up North? I don't see how, since we are on the southern coast."

Hiccup shook his head, "There must be none here then, that's what I thought. I flew here, with my dragon." 

\---

Merida choked back her laughter, not wanting to hurt the man's feeling after they had achieved their fragile peace, but she gave him back the peculiar pendant, "Wait, what did you say? I'm sorry, but I thought you said dragon."

Hiccup sighed, "Yes, I said dragon, I flew one here, and there's one on the beach right now."

Merida exploded, unable to stop her laughter, "You're bluffing! Dragons don't exist! Berk doesn't really exist, does it! This is all just one big prank! Did my brothers tell you to do this?"

Hiccup was visibly irritated, "I'm not kidding, dragons are real, okay? I also happen to have friends with some also!"

Merida ceased her laughter but continued quietly chuckling, "So, seriously, how did you get here, aside from your 'dragon'?"

Hiccup searched his mind for ideas, "How about this? We'll have a race, first one out to the beach wins, we can see how your horse compares to my dragon and you can meet Toothless."

Merida laughed, "Okay, sure, we'll get to see your dragon, Toothless..."

Hiccup quickly washed his face in the water before stepping onto the rock that Merida was on, "Okay, on three. One, two, three!"

Merida raced from the clearing, looking back to see Hiccup still standing there,  _He has no chance._ She raced through the forest, following the path back to the outcropping of rocks and then turning down another path leading to the beach. She felt a breeze over her head as a group of birds passed over her.

\---

Hiccup called to Toothless, who came bounding through the trees, hearing Hiccup through the trees with his acute hearing. Hiccup picked himself up from the ground, yelling at Toothless who had tackled him and promptly slobbered all over him in the process. Quickly getting on Toothless, the two flew back out towards the beach, passing over Merida on the way. Not wanting her to see Toothless too soon, Hiccup decided to dismount and glide down using to his flying suit. As Hiccup dismounted, Toothless did his best to dive into the ocean to prevent any damage to the tail fin and harness. Hiccup was approaching the ground as Merida emerged from the forest further down the beach. As Hiccup clumsily landed in the hilly sand, Merida got off her horse and walked up to him. Merida crossed her arms, "Impressive, but I still won! Now, where is your 'dragon'?"

Hiccup laughed, "Sure, you totally won, and I thought you didn't believe in dragons?"

Merida looked away, "I do believe in dragons, I know they're real, but I also know that you don't have one. I don't expect a dragon, I do want to know how you got here though."

\---

Merida watched the man tuck the large piece of leather back into his suit. Secretly, she was fascinated by the peculiar uniform but she didn't want to show her curiosity to the strange man. "So Hiccup, where is your 'dragon'?"

Hiccup sighed, "Fine."

He turned towards the ocean, looking for something, "Toothless! Toothless! Where are you?"

Then, they waited, they stood there scanning the sea for signs of, well, anything, and they found nothing.

Merida frowned, "No ship, no dragon, nothing! What are you trying to do here Hiccup?! What's your trick!?"

She pulled out her bow, "I'm ready for whatever you try to do!"

Hiccup held his heads up, "No, no you don't understand, he's here! Just wait!"

Merida sighed, "I've waited and I listened to what you said, but everything you said was wrong!"

Merida threw up her arms in frustration, "Come on! Hiccup, I trusted you!"

Hiccup paced the coast, "Toothless! Why are you doing this? I've already lost you once when I shot you down, I am not losing you again! I'm going to kill you if this is your idea of a joke!"

Merida trudged back towards Angus and the forest, yelling behind her, "Hiccup, I don't know what you're doing but I'm leaving, if you want I'll give you a ride back to the edge of my kingdom, I don't even care if you're a criminal, I just want to get back."

Merida stumbled through the hilly sand, "Hiccup? Hiccup? Are you listening?"

Merida reached Angus, turning back around to yell at Hiccup, "Hiccup! Do you want- Ohh, well, that's a dragon."

Merida considered the sight before her, Hiccup hanging from the jaws of a black dragon that was wearing a harness and saddle. Merida pulled out her bow, "Normally I won't ask but, Hiccup, do you need some help?"

Hiccup waved his arms frantically, a difficult feat while hanging from a dragon, "Don't shoot! This is normal! What you could do is just scratch under his chin at the base of his neck. He's just trying to protect me."

Merida refused, "Are you crazy! He'll maul me! I'm not doing that! I don't even know him!"

Hiccup sighed, "Fine, Toothless, this is Merida. Merida, this is Toothless. There are you happy? Just do it!"

Merida was scared, "He has plenty of teeth! I don't think that helped!"

Merida, unwilling to leave Hiccup hanging there, even if he was weird, slowly edged towards Toothless, keeping her bow aimed. Toothless gave her no attention, focused on Hiccup. Merida dropped her bow when she was within touching distance. The moment she did so, Toothless dropped Hiccup, pinned him under a foot and stared at Merida. Losing some of her nerves under the dragon's stare, Merida loaded her bow but kept it pointed down. Hiccup yelled from the floor, "Don't back down! Let him take dominance, but don't, back, down!"

Merida was unsure of what to do, but she did drop her bow, regretting it instantly when Toothless growled at her. Hiccup was struggling to get the dragon off of him, "He feels threatened! Drop your weapons!"

Merida was frustrated, "I figured that out! I already dropped my weapons!"

She pulled out her disfigured sword and threw it down the beach, but Toothless continued staring at her, baring his teeth. "Merida, he can tell, just drop all your weapons!"

Merida sighed, tired of all the drama, she pulled the hidden knives from her belt and threw them aside. Toothless's mood changed instantly, he let Hiccup go and bounded off to inspect Merida's horse.

\---

Hiccup brushed the sand off of his suit and Merida watched the two animals, dragon and horse, "talk" excitedly. Each purr and body movement by Toothless was replied by a bray and head movement. Hiccup walked next to Merida, "Amazing isn't it. He's asking about you."

Merida smiled, "What are you talking about?"

Hiccup pointed to Toothless as the dragon started purring and rolled onto his back, "He's asking if you're friendly and what' you're like."

Merida was shocked, "You can understand him?"

Hiccup shook his head and laughed, "I wish, I can't tell everything but you spend a couple years with him and you pick a few phrases up."

Hiccup looked at the sky, "It's getting dark, consider staying out here tonight? We can help you home tomorrow morning."  

Merida said nothing and headed into the forest to gather wood for a fire. Hiccup yelled after her, "I'll take that as a yes!"

\---

Hiccup and Merida were talking as they sat on stones brought by Toothless around a large bonfire. The two were eating fish as they discussed their life and their family. As Merida was talking about her kingdom, Hiccup pulled out his journal. When she asked what he was doing, Hiccup explained how he takes notes about everything he sees. He showed her his map, which has grown to be gigantic over the years, the center pages were old and filled with detailed islands consisting of Berk and a few other small villages. But as they moved outward with Hiccup describing each island and the dragons that lived on them, the pages were new and bare on the edges as Hiccup could fill in less and less details with a large amount of area to cover. The top of the map drooped as the weight of the paper weighed itself down. Hiccup began drawing around the top of the map as Merida watched him sketching the coast of her kingdom and drawing her kingdom's emblem with her descriptions. As she inspected the map, she found neighboring kingdoms marked on the map, but Hiccup said he never actually contacted any of them, drawing the emblem with scavenged uniforms and banners.

As Hiccup described the dragons and Vikings, he showed Merida his flying suit and how the fire sword worked. Merida asked question after question about the dragons and how to live with them. After answering the last question, Hiccup offered to help her find her own dragon, but she refused and wanted to keep riding her horse. Hiccup knew the bonds between a person and their animal, so he left the matter alone. The two animals quietly "talked" throughout the conversation and they fell asleep long before the two did. Once they had run out of things to talk about, Hiccup lay down next to Toothless and Merida lay down next to Angus, both animals keeping their rider warm.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second work. Check out my first work for an extension from How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2. Happy reading!


End file.
